Mitt Romney has criss-crossed the nation many times listening to and speaking with small business owners and everyday Americans deeply concerned about the economy. He’s pictured at such a meeting at Brewery Bar IV on June 19, 2011 in Aurora, Colorado. (Photo – John Moore/Getty)

A couple of nights ago, President Obama admitted his MATH challenges to Jay Leno. Do you think his deficiencies just might have something to do with his economic challenges? Like his bullheaded thinking that government is the engine behind America’s economy? (Notice: I did not use Obama’s “bull******” word.) What about his failure to understand that continually spending more than we take in has put us on the rickety road to ruin? Does his aversion to arithmetic prevent him from grasping that he’s added almost as much debt held by the public as all prior American presidents in history? How about the President’s choking on things like, oh… say, a FEDERAL GOVERNMENT BUDGET?

Take a look:

Leno: Here’s Samantha from Colorado: “When you help your daughters with their homework, is there a a subject you struggle with?”Obama: Well, the math stuff I was fine with up until about seventh grade.Leno: Yeah.Obama: But Malia is now a freshman in high school and — I’m pretty lost.Obama: Fortunately, they’re great students on their own. and, you know, if something doesn’t work, I’ll call over to the Department of Energy and see if they have a physicist to come over.

How about we call Mayflower moving company and get the math mish-masher out of the White House? We’ve got someone running for president whose passion for numbers, economic analysis, and results is part of his DNA. Undergirding it all is his passion for helping people. It’s helped him turn around failing businesses, a state in trouble, and an entire troubled winter Olympics.

★ How did Romney learn so much about numbers, economic analysis, and business? Glad you asked! Here’s how:

Romney attended Stanford University for a year before serving 30 months as a missionary for his church. He then headed to BYU (where Ann was attending) to study English and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree. Mitt wanted to pursue a business career, but his Dad advised him that a law degree would be helpful to him, even if he didn’t become a lawyer. So, he enrolled in a grueling, newly-formed, joint four-year Doctor/Master of Business Administration program coordinated by Harvard Business School and Harvard Law School. It was a rigorous, dual course of study. (He and Ann were married by then and were busy parents to two small children. Ann also determinedly finished her undergraduate work by taking night courses at Harvard University Extension School. In 1975, she earned a Bachelor of Arts degree with a concentration in French language from BYU.) With hard work, discipline, and dedication, Romney graduated in 1975 cum laude from the law school in the top third of the class. He was named a Baker Scholar for graduating in the top five percent in his business school class.

★ You’ll like this: Romney for President today launched four excellent new videos on SterlingBusinessCareer.com. It’s a NEW website highlighting Governor Romney’s successful achievements in the private sector. When you stop by, you’ll hear from folks who worked at businesses benefitting from Romney’s work. Romney for President says, to date, the campaign has released 17 different videos documenting The Gov’s private-sector experience. The videos have been viewed over 125,000 times.

Here’s one of the new vidoes: ‘Uniquely Qualified’

Learn more about Romney’s record of building, fixing, and growing business; see the other three new videos here.

★ While Romney was standing with a stalwart crowd of patriotic Americans in blustery, chilly Iowa today, speaking on matters of great importance, and while further incriminating news about Benghazi was breaking, President Obama put on his suit to rock with MTV host Sway Calloway. No calling in (like he does for those pesky security council meetings); MTV deserved his presence! Listen to this hard-hitting question and how Obama rambles trying to give a presidential answer:

Although not a GOP affiliate, ConservativeHome, a new website that launched on November 15, 2010, hopes to spur the ongoing debate about the future of the Republican Party and conservatism. They also believe the GOP should function as a broad-based coalition to ensure long-term success. CH recently polled 1,152 Republican activists (identified by YouGov America) on who they consider to be the top three political commentators. Results were released yesterday; here are the top ten:

* There were two phases to the voting process. Last week Panel members were asked to nominate favorite commentators. This week Panel members were presented with a list, derived from their nominations, and asked to vote for their three favorite.

•Limbaugh, for example, was named as a favorite by 41% of ConservativeHome’s Republican Panel.

•Worryingly, columnists often regarded as among the most thoughtful conservatives did not fare well. David Brooks of the New York Times only mustered a mention from 1.3% of the panel (14 people). Ross Douthat, also at the NYT, won just four votes and Mike Gerson, Washington Post writer and former speechwriter to President Bush, gets just three mentions.

•Another former Bush speechwriter and Rush Limbaugh’s leading critic, David Frum, only gets three mentions. Peggy Noonan, however, gets favorited 35 times.

•The ticket to high status is clearly Fox News. One of only two upmarket newspaper columnist to appear in the top ten being Charles Krauthammer, who combines his syndicated Washington Post column with his Fox punditry. He was named by 29% of grassroots Republicans. The other broadsheet columnist, at number ten, is George Will, syndicated Washington Post Op-Ed writer and ABC News veteran.

Liberal advocacy group, Media Matters, has been keeping tabs on FOX News airtime featuring John Bolton, Rick Santorum, Newt Gingrich, Sarah Palin, and Mike Huckabee. Although Media Matters receives funding from George Soros, their conclusions are worth considering: Because of his weekend television show, Huckabee registers more time than the others. Estimates are that these five potential 2012 GOP presidential candidates were on the air nearly 66 hours in the first 10 months of the year. With current advertising rates, the five of them – thus far – have received at least $40 million worth of free advertising.

DAVID BAUDER -AP News
Nov 18, 2010

[…] For Fox, locking up these prominent Republicans for roles on the network is a good way to appeal to a viewing audience dominated by conservatives, Graham said. The payoff comes on nights like the midterm elections, a good-news night for Republicans where Fox outdrew every broadcast and cable network covering the races in prime time.

“They see it as trying to even out the bias,” he said. “There is just a remarkable amount of promotion of Obama and it continues.”
[…]

Fox’s stable of potential candidates raises questions for the network and political process moving forward. Pat Buchanan, who worked at CNN in the 1990s, took periodic breaks from “Crossfire” when he announced candidacies.

The questions are similar for Fox: Will these politicians leave Fox’s employ if they run for president? Will they delay announcing candidacies in order to get more time on the air? Will Fox feel comfortable keeping these politicians as employees if a candidacy is announced?

The exposure could be a real advantage for these politicians, and the lack of it a detriment for potential candidates such as Mitt Romney who are not in Fox’s employ. As it is, candidates will be going out of their way to appeal to Fox personalities like Glenn Beck or Sean Hannity, Rabin-Havt said.

“There never has been a network that has so dominated a political process,” he said.

There’s also the possibility that GOP candidates in the upcoming political season may avoid other news organizations to conduct much of their campaigning before a Fox News audience, he said.

Huckabee appeared onscreen on Fox for more than 38 hours through Oct. 31, according to Media Matters. Palin and Gingrich each had nine hours, Santorum had five hours and Bolton, four.

(my emphasis)

Fox News contributors sign contracts forbidding them from appearing on any network other than Fox. Their television coverage serves as a platform for their messages. Politico quoted Jim Dyke (GOP strategist) making a germane point: “As it becomes clear somebody is looking at running, Fox gets into a bit of a box because doesn’t it become an in-kind contribution if they’re being paid?”

Perhaps this is why Governor Romney joked with Jay Leno: “If you ever see me sign up for a gig on Fox News, it’ll be a clear indication that I’ve decided to run for president. That’s not in the cards anytime soon – thanks.”

Questions…

1. We clearly don’t want to alienate FOX News, but has their approach to the 2012 potential presidential GOP candidates been fair and balanced thus far?

2. If not, do you see their coverage on the 2012 GOP possibilities becoming more/less fair and balanced in the future?

Mitt struck the perfect balance of levity and seriousness in his appearance on Jay Leno’s show last night. The opening skit was short but very humorous – brilliant idea to have it take place while getting their hair done. Watch the video below. How did Mitt do?

Update – I think I know the where Jay Leno found that picture of Mitt with bad hair. Hint: try googling “mitt romney bad hair” I wish all the folks watching the program could know the story behind that picture.

Update 5 by Jayde – (H/t Crystal) Erik Hayden from The Atlantic Wire.com posted a good write-up on Mitt/Leno:

Morning Vid: Mitt Romney Always Says the Right Thing

Memo to Jay Leno: Don’t bother trying to bait Mitt Romney with leading questions about Sarah Palin. He won’t bite. The ex-Massachusetts governor will just smile and give the least newsworthy praise possible about the budding reality TV star (she’s a “remarkable,” “qualified,” and “capable” person). On Wednesday night, Leno tried—again and again—to keep prodding Romney to utter at least one veiled shot at his potential 2012 primary competitor.

To no avail. Asked if he would have quit his Massachusetts post in a way similar to how Palin left the Alaska governorship, Romney merely responded that “being governor is really the best job you can think of” and explained that there was a different set of circumstances involved. When Mitt finally gathered that Leno wasn’t interested in how much he loved being governor, he had this carefully-calibrated quip ready: “If someone’s looking for me to say something negative about Sarah Palin, why, that’s not going to come from me. Did you see what she did to the halibut the other night on her show? I’m not in for that.”

If I recall correctly, the last time Mitt met with Leno was just after several grueling primaries, early in 2008 — Mitt had finished with a ‘Silver’ in both Iowa and New Hampshire and a ‘Gold’ in Michigan and Wyoming. Leno asked Mitt how he was holding up after some pretty nasty competition in those early states, to which Mitt replied jokingly:

“I do fine. You know, I start off the day with a ‑‑ actually with a bowl of granola. My wife makes granola. Before I go on a trip, she gets out the oats and honey and sesame seeds and chops up the almonds. So I take a bowl and have granola in the morning, and then I jog every other day three miles, and then at the end of the day, just to really relax, I take off a dark suit like this and put on a light one.”

Expect similar humor from Mitt this time around (and keep your fingers crossed for some talk about his eventual announcement to run for President). Here’s to hoping Mitt can take some of those ‘Silvers’ from last time around and trade them in for ‘Golds’! Go Mitt!

~Aaronius

Finally, if you just want to watch the entire episode of Jay Leno, click here.